Charlie Weasley and the Marriage Law
by NickyLee308
Summary: This is my version of the Marriage Law. I plan on keeping it as close to canon as possible. Charlie goes home for a three week visit and discovers a Marriage Law has been put into effect. Instead of getting to relax at home, he spends his three weeks getting to know his soon-to-be wife and planning a wedding. Something he never thought would happen. Rated M for suggestive thoughts.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I had this little plot bunny running through my head for several days now. See, I'm a big fan of keeping the story canon (though I do love what some people with Hermione & Fred or George). So this will be a little AU since it's a Charlie story, but everything else I will keep as close to canon as possible. Here's a short introduction. I haven't quite decided how long this is going to be, we'll have to see where it ends up taking me. I hope you enjoy it, and please review!

PS – My son is now 11 months, and while I thought that would mean I'd be able to write more often, I was way wrong! Now I have to stop him from getting into EVERYTHING! What does this mean? That I can't promise regular updates. I'm going to try hard, but unfortunately, I can't promise anything.

Charlie Weasley and the Marriage Law

Chapter 1

Charlie Weasley lives a simple life. Dangerous, but simple. While his mother disagrees with the way he lives his life, he wouldn't change it for anything. He loves his life, he loves his home and he loves his dragons.

Ten years had gone by since the war and Charlie was currently packing for a well deserved three week vacation. He wasn't going anywhere exotic, he was going home. After years of his mother nagging him to come home, he finally set up a regular schedule. He would come home once a year for three weeks, always during the summer, and then he'd come home every other Christmas. It kept his mother happy and it kept him from having to schedule an international portkey every single month.

Charlie had just worked a midnight shift to spend one last day with the dragon babies he had been nursing back to health. As much as he loved working with full grown dragons, he especially enjoyed the babies. It was so seldom that he got to work with babies that he would take extra shifts just to tend to them. The reserve had just found two Welsh Green's last week and he knew by the time he got back from his vacation, they wouldn't be babies anymore. Instead of staying up all night packing, he decided to work.

The sky was just beginning to turn pink when Charlie walked into his house. It was more of a little cabin than a house, but for Charlie it was home. He immediately went into the kitchen to start a kettle. The Romanians were a fan of coffee, but being British nothing perked him up than a strong cup of tea. While waiting for the water to get hot, he went to the window above his sink where a delivery owl was waiting for payment for his _Daily Prophet_.

He quickly made himself a cup of tea and sat down at his little table and started flipping through the paper, not really reading anything. Harry's birthday was coming up so half of the paper was about Harry defeating Voldemort, Harry being Head Auror, Harry and Ginny's two boys, and anything else Harry related that they could find. It wasn't until he got to the last page of the paper that he spit out his tea and stared in disbelief. He read the article three times before he managed to close his mouth. He decided it had to be a mistake or some prank that an intern slipped in when the editor wasn't looking.

Looking up at the clock, he noticed he only had 10 minutes until his portkey departed. He quickly dumped his tea in the sink and tossed the paper in the trash. He walked through his little sitting room, down his little hallway into his spare bedroom to collect a small trunk. Charming it to follow him into his bedroom, he packed everything he needed with his wand and was back in his sitting room within 5 minutes. He shrunk his trunk down and put a feather-light charm on it before sticking it in his pocket. He took a look at his watch and saw he had three minutes to go. Charlie opened the envelope containing his portkey. Two minutes to go. There was a letter that stated his portkey would take him directly to his parents house instead of him arriving at the Ministry and having to go through security. Charlie snorted at the letter. Not everyone got this kind of treatment. The Ministry tends to bend over backwards for Harry's family. One minute to go. His thoughts switched over to the Ministry. Could the Ministry really do that? Was that article genuine? Millions of thoughts raced through Charlie's head and before he knew it, he was being sucked through the air and landing in his parents backyard.

The last thought that went through his head before he was attacked by his mother, sister and nieces and nephews was at least there are benefits to having Harry Potter as your brother-in-law.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I forgot this last chapter, but I do know own this. :)

Chapter 2

Charlie hadn't been at the Burrow for more that 15 minutes before his mother had ushered him into the kitchen to make him a proper breakfast. It appeared just about everyone had taken the day off to greet him home.

"So where's George? Was he not able to get away from the shop today to greet his favorite older brother?" Charlie asked.

His question was met with a smack across the back of his head by Bill and a snort from Percy. Charlie just grinned at the two of them while his mum answered.

"He just had to open the store, then he was going home to pick up Angelina and come over. They should be here any minute now."

She had started shoveling scrambled eggs on Charlies plate, along with six rations of bacon, a couple fried tomatoes and some freshly sliced bread when he heard the front door open and slam shut.

"Charlie! My favorite older brother!"

Charlie quickly turned to look at Bill and Percy's faces. Both had deep scowls on their faces. George bounced into the room with an incredibly wide smile on his face. He made his way around the table, snatching pieces of bacon and bread off of Bill and Percy's plates before plopping down on the seat next to Charlie.

"Why the long faces, brothers?" George asked with laughter in his eyes.

Charlie chuckled at his brothers antics. "I think they're a little disappointed that I'm your favorite brother, Georgie."

Just as George and his mother were about to respond, one in laughter and one in frustration, an owl swooped into the kitchen, dropped a letter in front of Charlie and took off again. Everyone in the kitchen just stared at the letter as if knowing something Charlie didn't.

"What?" Charlie asked. "Why is everyone staring? I bet it's the Reserve just asking a question about the babies I tended to last night..."

Charlie let his sentence trail when he saw the look on his mothers face. Dread filled his body. Could this letter have anything to do with the article he read in the _Prophet_ this morning? Is that why Hermione seemed so tense when she said hello and why Percy seemed more uptight than usual? Even Harry seemed to be messing his hair more often, a sure sign that he was nervous. Charlie looked down at the letter in his hands and slowly opened it. He read through it three times, not believing that this was happening. It was Ron who finally broke the tense silence in the kitchen.

"What's it say, Charlie?"

He quickly read the letter one last time before looking up at his family. He could feel his blood beginning to boil as he got angry. He now understood why Hermione and Percy looked so uncomfortable. He ignored Ron's question and turned to them first.

"A marriage law? Really? How could you let such a law pass? This will be a catastrophe!" he exclaimed.

"Charlie, calm down. What did the letter say?" His father gently asked.

Charlie took a deep breath and closed his eyes, willing himself not to get mad at her. It wasn't her fault the Ministry decided to pass such an idiotic law.

"Anyone between the ages 25 and 45 must be married by the end of the summer. Any current engagements will be considered, but we have three months to get married and consummate the marriage with the spouse the Ministry chose for you. They supposedly ran all sorts of personality and compatibility charms on every qualifying, single person in the wizarding world."

"I think what Dad wanted to know was who you've been matched with, Charlie. We all unfortunately knew about the law, but couldn't do anything to stop it from passing. Even Harry couldn't stop it." Bill carefully replied.

Charlie looked around the table and let his eyes settle on Angelina, knowing that she knew the girl the best.

"Alicia Spinnet."

A/N: I know, it's a short one, but I plan on chapters becoming longer from here out as more of a plot develops. Hope you're enjoying it. Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. Duh.

Chapter 3

Something that not many people knew about Charlie Weasley was the fact that he was a pacer. He paced when he was bored, he paced when he was upset, and most of all, he paced when he was nervous. It was something he had developed working on the Reserve over the past several years. Growing up in a big family, he used to just talk to Bill or Percy, sometimes Fred or George, but then he moved away from home and he was alone. He hadn't been gone but a week when the habit began. Whenever he came home though, the habit would disappear. Needless to say, it surprised him when he found himself up in his old room, an hour after getting "The Letter", pacing.

He had excused himself from the kitchen after an hour of his family discussing his pending nuptials, stating he had a headache and needed to lie down. He was sure no one in the family bought the excuse, but at least this way he'd be able to think without his sister, mother and sister-in-laws squealing. Since all the girls (except Audrey, because she's a Muggle) went to school or have known Alicia for years, they couldn't wait to get the wedding planning started.

But Charlie could. The last time he saw her, she was a short, stubborn, little second year at Hogwarts. Sure, she was probably at the battle and most likely at Fred's funeral, but he wasn't paying attention to who was there. He was trying to fix his family at the time. When he first realized he was going to be forced into the Marriage Law, he was terrified that he wouldn't know the witch he got paired with, but now he's terrified because he does know her.

Charlie may have looked at Angelina for help earlier, but truthfully, he remembers her perfectly from school. He remembers watching her get sorted. She was tiny, as most first years are, but she was confident. He knew she would be a Gryffindor the moment he saw her sit on that stool. She was very calm and collected as she sat there, waiting for the hat to make it's decision. And then she smiled, a big, wide, toothy smile that seemed to light up the room, just before the hat shouted Gryffindor. After that, she seemed to bounce every where she went.

Charlie shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. It didn't matter what his first impression of her was, because their last encounter was not favorable for him. He was the Quidditch captain from his fifth to seventh year, and she apparently loved Quidditch. She tried out her first year, and while she was quite good on a broom, Charlie just didn't have the room for her. She really needed to work on her technique, but he told her if she worked hard, maybe her second year she'd make the team.

Unfortunately, he had told that to Angelina, too. That year, Angelina and Alicia, along with Fred and George (who had missed try-outs because of detention with Snape), worked hard all year and come Charlie's second year, all four had vastly improved. Unlucky for Alicia, he only had one spot open for the Chasers, and Angelina out flew Alicia just by a hair, and he had to pick based on skill. He was pretty sure the only reason why Alicia didn't murder him on the spot was because Oliver Wood had saved him by suggesting a reserve team. Since Charlie knew Oliver would be the captain the next year, Charlie let him coach the reserve team. He also knew that Oliver would ask all of the Chasers to practice without the entire team just to help train the reserves.

That was the last conversation he had with her. Too many years to count and him denying her a spot on his Quidditch team. He had no idea what to expect when he came face to face with her again. Do women hold grudges over years? He hadn't dated since the end of the war just because he didn't have time for it. When he did date, it was typically someone who was interning at the Reserve so they wouldn't be there long, but they would always get angry when he'd say he was going home for his vacation. They always wanted him to sweep them away to some romantic island. He couldn't stand that so he stopped dating, especially after Fred died. His family needed him. He didn't think he'd ever find a witch who would understand, and now he's going to be forced into a marriage with someone he didn't really know. What if she ends up being like all the others?

Charlie finally stopped his pacing, sighed, and laid down on his bed. He knew he wasn't going to be able to close his eyes and sleep, there were too many thoughts racing through his mind, but at least he could be comfortable. He was just contemplating taking his jeans off when a knock on his door startled him. Sighing again, he got up from his bed to answer the door, presuming it would be his mother asking if he needed anything.

"Mum, really, I've just got-" he said, swinging the door open, only to stop because it wasn't his mother standing there.

"Hi, Charlie." Alicia said, smiling. Charlie opened and closed his mouth a couple times, not knowing what to say. He wasn't expecting to see her the day he found out he was supposed to marry her. He thought he'd have a day or two to come up with some kind of plan. Alicia laughed and walked around him and shut the door for him.

"Really, Charlie, no need to be so surprised to see me. I got the letter, too. How's the Reserve?"

This question seemed to knock Charlie out of his stupor. A perfect question for him to answer, because he could answer it without thinking. While telling her about the babies he had been caring for and how they're having trouble keeping a herbologist on staff, he watched her closely. She was still confident and calm, but she was no longer that little second year. She had definitely grown into a beautiful witch. She had the perfect amount of curves and she was thin without being sickly thin. He never realize how pretty her face was, either. Her brown complexion was light and smooth, with perfect lips, a button nose and sparkling brown eyes. She had to have been around at the past weddings, why hadn't he noticed her before? Realizing he was nearing the end of description of the Reserve, he brought his full attention back to the conversation before asking how she was doing.

"Oh, I'm doing well. Just finished my last season with the Harpies. Ginny is going to talk to her boss at the _Prophet_ to see if I can start covering matches with her. Three seasons is enough for me, I've had too many injuries. In the mean time I've been helping George and Angie at the shop."

"I didn't realize you went on to play for the Harpies. How come I never saw you play when I watched Gin?" Charlie asked.

"I was a reserve for Ginny, actually. But the stubborn witch never sat out of a game, even with broken ribs, so I never played at the matches your family was at." she responded.

And there was that smile again, thought Charlie. A silence stretched for a few minutes, both of them not knowing what to say to each other. Charlie cleared his throat, deciding to take the conversation away from the superficial and lead it toward the inevitable.

"You've changed a lot. You're no longer that little second year I remember. I don't think I've seen you since then."

"I do hope that's a good thing, Charlie.. Though we danced together at George and Angie's wedding. You don't remember that?" Alicia asked, scrunching her eye brows together as though trying to figure out if he was teasing her. Time to try to woo her, otherwise he knew he'd be starting this quick courtship in the doghouse.

"I don't remember drinking that much, but I must have if I don't remember dancing with a beautiful witch like you." Charlie responded, giving her his most winning smile, hoping it would work.

She just looked at him and the silence seemed to stretch on for hours, before she smiled, threw her head back and laughed.

"Oh, this is going to be interesting. Now I know where Fred and George learned it from." she said, looking at her watch. "I've got to go, Charlie. I told Verity I'd be back 10 minutes ago, but we need to plan a time to sit down and talk about our … situation. How long are you going to be in England?"

"I just got in this morning and I'm here for three weeks. Would you like to go to dinner tomorrow night?" Charlie asked, deciding to take the lead.

"I'd love it. Owl me with details. See you tomorrow, Charlie." With a quick kiss on his cheek, she seemed to glide out of the room and down the stairs before Charlie even realized what she had done. Lifting his hand to his cheek he realized she was right, this was going to be interesting. And he could now say he was actually looking forward to the time he was going to be spending with her.

AN: I am SO sorry this is so late. I promise, I won't be giving up on this story as I think it's quite different then most Charlie stories out there. But, things have been awful here at home. My son is almost 13 months old, so I don't have much time to sit down and write, but on top of that my mother was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer a month ago. Needless to say, I've been a bit busy taking care of her after her surgery and what not. Hopefully I'll be able to write during her chemo treatments, but I can't be positive about that. Just bare with me, please. And reviews help a ton! Thank you so much for all the support so far! :)


End file.
